American soldiers captured one of Saddam Hussein’s bodyguards, as well as two associates, in pre-dawn raids today in the former dictator’s hometown of Tikrit, the U.S. military said.

“We got our prime target,” said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, who refused to identify the man, except to say that he was the despot’s longtime bodyguard and “a close associate of Saddam Hussein.”

It wasn’t clear if he was still functioning as Saddam’s bodyguard.

The two other men were captured in simultaneous raids on houses elsewhere in town, which is still seen as a stronghold of support for Saddam.

Further south, two American soldiers were killed in separate incidents yesterday, bringing to 49 the number of U.S. troops killed since President Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq on May 1.

One GI was killed in central Baghdad when insurgents dropped a grenade from a highway overpass onto a convoy. Three soldiers were wounded in the attack.

The second soldier was killed and another injured in a vehicle accident near the southern city of Nasiriyah.

Meanwhile, one of the three soldiers killed in Baghdad on Saturday has been identified as Pfc. Wilfredo Perez Jr., 24, of Norwalk, Conn.

Hours before this morning’s raids in Tikrit, troops found enough anti-tank mines and gunpowder for a month of attacks on American forces, officials said.

The freshly buried weapons were discovered in a building that once served as the Tikrit home of Saddam’s Fedayeen militia. Roughly 40 anti-tank mines, dozens of mortar rounds and hundreds of pounds of gunpowder were found.

The discovery “saved a few lives out there,” said Maj. Bryan Luke.

U.S. officials say that several recent raids indicate that they are closing in on Saddam.